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The Big House 5: Super Smash Bros. Melee & For Wii U Results

October 5, 2015
Justin "Popi" Banusing

It’s over! The Big House 5, competitive Super Smash Bros.’ biggest grassroots tournament of the year (and the second biggest Melee event ever), has just finished. Over the past few days, players from around the world have been battling it out to see who is the best player in the world in both Super Smash Bros. For Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Melee.

From upsets to dominating play, the event was chock full of exciting events. Although hype was initially hampered due to top players like William “TSM | Leffen” Hjelte and Kevin “CLG | PewPewU” Toy not being able to attend, it eventually hit it’s stride and produced a weekend of Super Smash Bros. to remember.

https://twitter.com/TSM_Leffen/status/649382145522302976

Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to Big House 5. Details later on my stream!

Super Smash Bros. Melee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akxn8lyHEPs

Being the main event, Melee was jam packed with hype. All four of the “Big Six” who participated in the event made it to the Upper Bracket side of Top 8 and were joined by 3 other top players and 1 surprise hero in the Lower Bracket to round the final 8 up.

One of the highlights of the night was when Hungrybox faced off against Mango. Having a losing set record against Cloud 9’s only FGC player, he was expected to lose the set and proceed to the Lower Bracket. In a turn of events, he defeated Mango (3-0), possibly proving that their set at Evolution 2015 was no mere fluke and that he catching up to the latter match-up wise.

Few expected a Luigi main to place high and definitely none bet on one getting top 8 but somehow, Abate did the impossible. He went through many high caliber players such as Pikachu specialist Jeffrey “Tempo Storm | Axe” Williamson, Johnny “S2J” Kim (in what some might call the Set Of The Year) and finally, James “Duck” Ma in order to secure his place in top 8 through the Lower Bracket. While he lost to Shroomed in the first round of Losers Eights (Winner gets 8th place), the fact that he placed within the top 8 is a legendary feat alone.

In the end, the boat from Sweden, Alliance’s Armada, took first place over Hungrybox in an intense 3-2 set. This means that Armada has successfully defended his “Best In The World” title from Evolution 2015 and marks the second time he has defeated Hungrybox in the Grand Finals of a super major event. For those interested in statistics about the Melee scene in general, Daniel “MIOM | Tafokints” is the person to go to.

Super Smash Bros. For Wii U

Not to be outdone, For Wii U was very much hype as well. For over 50 tournaments, Chilean superstar Gonzalo ” TSM | ZeRo” Barrios has been undefeated, dropping at most a single set or a few games before annihilating the competition. The closest anyone has come to defeating him before The Big House 5 was Eric “PG | ESAM” Lew during the Upper Bracket Finals of Super Smash Con.

To the surprise of many (more so than Abate making Top 8), it was Maryland & Virginia (a traditionally “weak” region) or MDVA’s Joe “Seagull Joe” Raucher who defeated him in the preliminary rounds. While ZeRo did manage to qualify for Top 8 via Lower Bracket, he traveled than he would if he had qualified from the Upper Bracket side.

On the other hand, Nairoby “Liquid | Nairo“Quezada swept through the Upper Bracket, set to meet two of his regular opponents in the Tri-State (New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia) area Samuel “IQHQ | Dabuz” Buzby or Vincent “IQHQ | Vinnie” Cannino in Upper Bracket Finals.

After a shaky performance in the preliminary rounds, ZeRo ran through the Lower Bracket portion of Top 8 only to face Anti in Lower Bracket Semi Finals. While the re-emerging Tri-State beast put up a close fight, he still lost to ZeRo in a 3-2 set. Defeating Dabuz in Lower Bracket Finals, he faced off against Nairo, his number one rival since the older Super Smash Bros. games.

Again, while final set was close, ZeRo proved to be the stronger player and defended his winning streak. Whether someone will take an entire tournament off of him in the future, is still in the air. What it proves however, is that the competition in the Super Smash Bros. For Wii U scene is only getting better and better everyday.

Super Smash Bros. is now a regularly covered franchise here on Inquirer! Stay tuned for more news, tournament details and content about the series, the international community and the South East Asian scene.

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